Notes:

Press Review: The Zep was a test for the ears and they'll be at here tonight

WARNING: Mad Dogs may be hazardous to your health… Mad Dogs? Well, wasn't Led Zeppelin's original name? After "The New Yardbirds" and before Jimmy Page settled on Led Zep? I dunno.

After Tuesday night at the Metropolitan Sports Center, my ear drums are so fractured I may avoid music for the rest of the week.

LED ZEPPELIN IS one of the most celebrated bands in the world. And the Zep, like it always does, sold out the Met Tuesday night. But what is surprising is the same band will do the same thing tonight at the Civic Center here in St. Paul.

That is, if the Zep ever finished sometime this morning. Because of lightning, thunder and fear of flying, the band didn't arrive in the Twin Cities Tuesday until a half hour after the 8 o'clock' scheduled concert time.

And it didn't hit the stage until 9:11. Sometime nearing midnight I crashed — dazed by three hours of crunching Jimmy Page guitar, soaring Robert Plant vocals, buzzing John Paul Jones' bass and keyboard work and bruising, crashing and thrashing on the drums by John Bonham.

Zep did a job on me — but then again, I expected it. Listening to Zep for an hour on the phonograph is enough to create ear buzz for a week. Which is too bad because Led Zeppelin is a group of superior talent.

"SKINNY JIMMY" Page is probably one of the best three guitarists ever to attempt rock 'n roll. The former poet from Heston in Middlesex, England, has a range exceeded by none and the clarity of wind chimes when he wants to play it that way.

Jones, a former Rolling Stones' session man, is a wonder of a keyboard player and Bonham, like Plant, emerged from Band of Joy to pound away with some of the best.

Plant, himself, has the most distinctive voice in metallic music, a piercing, diving, anvil which thunders from under his delicately-curled reddish locks. It was nice to see him healthy again after a lengthy recovery from a near-fatal car crash in Greece two years ago.

BUT EVEN THOUGH Zep had a beautiful sound system Tuesday, the guttural roar from Page's shrieking guitar was enough to craze even the best of us.

Except the middle segment of the concert, which was an acoustic joy.

The Zep put away the hammers, the pliers, the saws and unveiled the quartet sitting four in a row, acoustics in hand, doing three songs including "Black Country Woman" and "California." At least I think those are the titles — I was a bit deaf by then and am unfamiliar with a couple of their albums but I think it's a mood first captured in "Houses of theHoly."

Page showered us with his versatility during the trio of songs, Jones did also and Plant actually revealed a brush of a voice rather than a sledgehammer.

SOMEWHERE IN THE wee hours, I expect they got into the "Stairway to Heaven" and "Whole Lotta Love" stuff — the music which earned them a place in the Rock Hail of Fame. Me, I fazed out with "Mag Dogs."

And Bonham's madness of a solo that did criminal work, abrasive damage, to my eardrums.

So if you're headed up to the Civic tonight, beware and don't get too close. And yes, thanks Bob - by Plant for wishing our Kicks well this season and we'll give Mike Bailey your best.

And Jimmy Page, can you see if you can find James Patrick Page the poet sometime soon? The guy who used to play lead for the Yardbirds? The best session guitarist in England? I loved him madly, as the Duke might have said. By CHARLEY HALLMAN, Staff Writer, St. Paul Dispatch, April 1977.

Submit your personal review of a particular show you attended, updates, corrections, etc., which will be considered for addition to the official online archive.

You may also contact the webmaster at: webmaster@ledzeppelin.com

Comments

Submit your personal review of a particular show you attended, updates, corrections, etc., which will be considered for addition to the official online archive.You may also contact the webmaster at: webmaster@ledzeppelin.com

They were late because of the weather. No warm up band. Robert Plant had a sore throat and could not hit any high notes. Imagine Led Zepplin with monotone almost rapping. Jimmy Page upon inspection with my binoculars, and we were close to start with, had bandaged fingers on his frett hand. Reading the history of this tour I guess it was an injury from hitting the wall or someones face. I was very disappointed and told many people after the concur that it was the worst concert until I saw a Kiss concert in 2009. I have forgiven them and have never lost my love of their heavy metal blues. I have always thought that they owed me a free concert to make up for this. I was so unhappy after the concert that I threw my concert stubs away. Very stupid.